Rick Ector: Why the NRA Doesn’t Include Blacks

Rick Ector gets LAID. As he should; it’s the name of his website (Legally Armed in Detroit). Rick Ector also gets the fact that the National Rifle Association is not his target demographic. And members of his site’s target demographic—African Americans seeking to exercise their Second Amendment rights in a city that does a passable imitation of a war zone—are not likely to join to the NRA. So whyzzat then? Rick recently wrote his theory on the matter for ammoland.com, some of which I’ll share with you . . .

The first thing to note: Rick doesn’t use the “r” word. The NRA member’s post asks Is The National Rifle Association An Organization For Black People? As Will Smith might say, “Oh hell no.” As Rick said . . .

I will readily admit that the NRA has not made any significant progress or inroads towards increasing the number of black people in the organization and at its annual conventions. My attendance at the conference last week in St. Louis was my second NRA national convention. By my own personal accounting, I met twelve (12) black persons in attendance at the conference in St. Louis. I may have missed a few but not many.

Previously, I had attended the 2010 meeting in Charlotte. Sadly, I must report that both aforementioned events lacked significant participation by black people.

Now that’s what I call understatement. Twelve African Americans at a convention with over 73,700 attendees is as good an example of the RITZ (Round It To Zero) principle as you’re going to get (today). Rick reckons he knows why African Americans are staying away from the NRA in droves.

One frequently cited reason, given to me by a number of black firearm owners, is the perception that blacks feel that they would not be welcome . . .

Many black people can recount several instances in which they felt or experienced a trespass with racist roots. As such, many aren’t keen or apt to voluntarily place themselves in an environment in which they think that an attack would be inevitable. So, despite the fact that many black people who love guns and enjoy the right to own them live in the cities where the NRA holds its Annual Meetings, they don’t attend attend because of fear.

Blaming the victim? Absolutely.

Whether or not the NRA is guilty of institutional racism, I didn’t see the gun rights org making any attempt to welcome African Americans or other minorities to the convention. Their inner city plight is mentioned during speeches, but not by inner city blacks, Asians, Hispanics or other besieged minorities. How many of the NRA seminars are specifically aimed at people of color? None.

Another given reason why black folks don’t join the NRA or attend its conferences is that they do not know much about the organization and its history of empowering citizens with firearm ownership. Personally, I did not know much about the NRA until I sought out one of its credentialed Firearms Instructors for the prerequisite training for a state of Michigan Concealed Pistol License (CPL).

And why, pray tell, hasn’t the NRA made an effort to tell African Americans about their work on their behalf (however laterally)? To that end, the NRA could lobby for and run rifle teams in inner city schools. They could work with, gulp, community organizers to help law-abiding African Americans get their concealed carry permits. They could generate NRA material with black faces on it.

Affirmative action as a legal concept? Not for me. Affirmative action to arm the most vulnerable members of our society? If Wayne’s mob does it, I’ll gladly wear a T-shirt that says I’m the NRA. On this, Rick and I agree:

The NRA will need to make it a conscious and overt goal to recruit significant numbers of black members into its organization. Once this decision is made, the necessary acts to support this decision will quickly fall into place. Obvious suggestions include but do not exclude the following: advertising in black media outlets, conduct boots-on-the-ground membership drives in major cities where blacks are concentrated, operate outreach activities in the black church, and sponsor educational exhibitions in selected markets.

A great opportunity awaits the NRA if they elect to embark upon this goal. Black gun owners are a growing segment of the gun community that no other organization is actively recruiting. I truly believe that if the NRA shows true and genuine interest in the black gun community, they will respond in droves.
If by chance, you want to join the NRA, use my NRA Recruiter’s link to get a $10 discount on a one year membership.

“If by chance . . . ” That says it all, doesn’t it? Other than this: if the NRA doesn’t reach out to the minority community, the gun rights organization will become increasingly irrelevant. Their credibility—and thus their future—depends on taking ownership of this blind spot.

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If the NRA tries grassroots recruiting programs in the inner cities, it will be laughed at or run out of each and every town on a rail. The black community has been thoroughly brainwashed into believing that the gungrabbers are friends and the NRA is an enemy.

If you form the habit of taking what someone else says about a thing without checking it out for yourself, you”ll find that other people will have you hating your friends and loving your enemies.

Indeed. The NRA is a very risk-averse organization. They have nothing to gain by such outreach, and everything to lose. The firearm industry has already taken quite a bit of flak for reaching out to women. Reaching out to minorities would cause 10x as much controversy. Easier to avoid it.

I was surprised to learn, that it was the NRA that secured gun rights for ‘Negro’s’ that put the KKK in check. That seems to be forgotten by Journalist of Colour whom call for Gun Control which then would make us ALL Slaves!

The NRA was founded to improve markmanship. it once promoted gun regulation, but in recent decades, it has been an enemy of gun regulation and a pure propaganda organ for the gun industry, whose goal is not safety but sales and profits.

I think if they send LaPierre out there to try to recruit, yes it will fall flat, but if they find the allies out there already and start building the relationships patiently, then they can succeed.

A good first step would be not writing off whole populations as lost causes. Another step in the right direction would be decoupling gun rights from right wing politics. If it’s possible to support gun rights without having to support everything else in the Republican party platform, then it becomes easier for groups who have been traditionally socially liberal to support them. I know that’s an oversimplification of the NRA, but that’s a common perception from the outside.

“If it’s possible to support gun rights without having to support everything else in the Republican party platform, then it becomes easier for groups who have been traditionally socially liberal to support them.”
THANK YOU!

Let’s be honest here. The NRA’s only appeal has been to White Fright for decades. They’ve been peddling fear of “inner city crime” which means “be afraid of the scary Black people” and fear of terrorism (scary Brown people) and fear of the gubbmint elites coming in black helicopters to take away our guns (neo-Confederate fear of Federalism). The membership is overwhelmingly White and disproportionately Southern or rural. They tend to fear and mistrust ethnic minorities in general and Blacks in particular.

Look at the comments here. Blacks are all “brainwashed”. Blacks just don’t understand all the good things the all-White NRA has done for them. Blacks don’t know what’s good for them.

You people ARE the problem here. And until you realize and do something about it gun ownership is doomed. It will continue to become the hobby and obsession of a dwindling number of old, White rural Conservatives. And as that demographic shrinks the RKBA will be seen as an irrelevant historical oddity, not a vital American tradition.

Another silly oversimplification of NRA membership. If it’s an aging white population, why has membership gone way UP, while the average age is going down?

The protection of gun rights crosses many Party and political lines. I’m far from the only atheist member of the NRA, and I know several who are Life Members, though the media portrays us as strictly a Christian, Bible Belt organization.

As an OWG in Atlanta I disagree. I shop at a major LGS that was targeted by X-mayor Bloomburg (yes he reached out to Atlanta). The customers are racially diverse and from my limited perspective everyone seems pretty focused on self defense firearms.

Let’s face it the NRA does not intend to exclude anyone. It was founded in 1871 and today represents people who cherish their second ammendment rights but it is unquestionably perceived as a club for white guys. Not throwing stones just saying that’s how it is and only the NRA can change that image.

Can the NRA grow their membership by diversifying ethnicity, use that diversity to strengthen the organization’s political and social influence while maintaining current values and not pandering? If they could it would be a first for any association I know of.

The NRA is an organization of men and women that want to gather and safeguard the 2nd Amendment, it start off as a mans to secure a group as far as I was concern on learning firearm safety, safety awareness, gun laws, and the means to get to know people that have like knowledge and concerns for our country! There is not color to the NRA except Red White and Blue, it is American. Anything other than that would be a fruitless conversation and I am out of here.

That could not be further from the truth. Fact is that most people in these communities have no idea of what the NRA is all about and those that do would most likely be surprised and react positively. I know that I myself would.

The NRA is missing out on such a fun opportunity to stick it to their critics. Just imagine the NRA reaching out with a massive pr campaign and launching programs specifically for inner-city minorities promoting gun ownership, target shooting, teaching gun safety, and self-defense use. The urban politicians (often anti-gun liberals and democrats) would be furious with the NRA muscling their way in and offering a partial solution to the failed urban city criminal policies.

‘Help lower the crime in your city. Don’t be a Victim. Buy a gun and get trained by the NRA’.

Probably and some would believe it. Others would not.Big city governments and police departments are frequently not trusted or respected by inner city residents either. I think many middle and poor class people who live on Main Street America in the inner cities recognize that criminals as bullies preying on the weak, and who often fearing those stronger and prepared to stand up to them. Considering the growth in gun ownership and support for the 2A, I think the trend is with the NRA.

Have you read Massad F. Ayoob’s piece on the NRA convention he attended in recent years? And the mix he saw there, including himself. He’s a well known authority in legal circles dealing with shootings though not an attorney he is much sought by them for testimony.

Author, firearms instructor, police officer. He claims a good mix of demographics at the conventions.

“. Twelve African Americans at a convention with over 73,700 attendees …”

Why should blacks trust the NRA, which opposes the views of its own members. The Frank LUntz survey found 74% of NRA members support universal background checks, which do not regulate guns nor infringe on any law abiding gun owner’s rights, but do help bar criminals from buying guns. In 42 states, criminals and crazies, gangsters and terrorists, can buy guns without background checks or records by going to a gun show or hooking up with a “private” seller thru ads in gun magazines. Since there are no records kept, anyone can claim to be a private seller. This is how criminals get guns. UBC would help eliminate this dangerous loophole, but the NRA opposes it.

Why would ANYONE pay dues to an organization which gets most of its funding from gun makers and opposes the views of its members?

In California, in the late 60’s, when Black Panthers began (legally) to open carry guns, Reagan quickly organized a change in the law. The NRA has the same agenda as Hitler had when he enacted the Germans Weapons Act of 1938, which liberalized, expanded, and deregulated guns and ammo in Germany, except for less than 1% of the population (Jews, few of whom had guns anyway): to create an armed Aryan nation.

Anyone who gives money to an organization which opposes their views is either very stupid or very ignorant. Blacks, having more sense, have no interest in joining the NRA, which is what at a convention with 73,000, Ector could only find 12.

Demographically speaking they’d be better off reaching out to Hispanics and women. Still, I don’t see them making much effort in the near future to be more inclusive, simply because (1) the money ain’t there for ’em – I don’t have any statistics but I don’t believe folks of color are likely to buy tons and tons of safe queens that’ll fatten the industry’s wallet (or multiple gun purchases, for that matter) and (2) there are more than a few folks who wouldn’t feel as comfortable with their inclusion – case in point being the dimwit with the racist t-shirt posted on here earlier. Can’t imagine too many conventions where that sort of stuff would be acceptable but apparently the guy was allowed to roam free at the NRA convention, maybe even patted on the back a few times.

The NRA has very foolishly painted itself into a demographic corner, and it better work hard to find a way out of it. Rural white males are the NRA’s main —strike that— rural Republican whites are the NRA’s ONLY target audience.

This translates into an overpowering Country Music/Southern Baptist cultural slant in the NRA, and it’s a major turn-off to most non-rural, non-evangelical gun owners. It also ignores the fact that many of the organization’s most effective spokesmen (like Charlton Heston and Tom Selleck) have been successful ambassadors precisely BECAUSE they’re not simply preaching to the rural, evangelical choir.

Blacks and Latinos definitely aren’t the only NRA members who feel less than 100% welcome when the country music starts blaring and the Tea Party/evangelical vibe starts thrumming through the convention.

I’ve got no bone to pick with other people’s faiths or their favorite music, but I personally didn’t sign up to join the National Country Music Tea Party Southern Baptist Rifle Association.

I’m in it for the guns. We all are, and there needs to be room for all of us in the NRA, regardless of racial or urban/rural divides. I’m amazed that we never hear that message from the NRA’s public relations campaigns.

“This Is Killer Mike. I joined the NRA as a Public display that WE as BLACKS can use that organization to “Protect” our 2cd amendment rights also. I think it be more important to stop blacks from joining the 700 club but, I digress. Here is why i joined.

My Father was a Cop. He taught me Gun Safety and has in his life been a member also. It’s about using every resource available at your disposal to ensure we can have the full American Experience. The NRA offers many classes on Gun safety and gun owner responsibility and rights. These are things all Gun owners need to know. In short their practicality for advancing safe gun ownership and rights out weigh their political stance because Black NEED that knowledge in the NOW.

WE HAVE NO BLACK NRA and until we do i will continue to use the organization that my white counter parts use to “Protect” them against law makers infringing upon 2cd Amendment rights. I hunt and Fish. I shot with my father and wife. My kids will begin shooting this year. I am glad that I have an organization that has programs and classes for all of us to use at our disposal.

Malcolm has a grand idea and I will be asking my black friends to join me in organizing a shooting club.

“is the perception that blacks feel that they would not be welcome . . .”

The same perception persists in the Jewish community, which is totally false. There are many Jews participating in shooting sports (a surprising number at the Olympic levels), many who have worked for the NRA, many prominently earning a living related to firearms, etc. Yet, the perception exists based on outdated stereotypes and lies propagated by anti-gunners.

It wouldn’t hurt for the NRA to make an outreach to minorities, but I don’t like the mentality that says the NRA needs to do all the work. NRA members need to reach out. Not to toot my horn, but that is one of the reasons why I run my blog…I don’t think the NRA needs to hold a Seder to encourage Jews, it’s up to us to get the word out. That is why another minority, women, have seen an explosion in female oriented gun-blogs (but that said, the NRA does have specific programs targeting women).

I don’t know if any other minority groups have produced any gun bloggers yet. I would think that a blog like mine (or the blogs run by female shooters), but for blacks or other minorities, would be tremendously interesting and helpful to the greater shooting community. But somebody needs to step up and do it, and not look to the NRA to solve every problem in the firearms community.

I agree. Instructors, who happen to be NRA members or even NRA certified instructors, can offer non-NRA firearms and personal safety courses in neighborhoods with larger minority populations. Once you get your foot in the door, with basic safety courses and non-NRA branded shooting courses, you can educate the people you talk to about the NRA membership and urge them to pass along the message.

That’s the most uncomfortable looking photo op I’ve seen in a LONG time. Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding would look more comfortable together. I bet Wayne’s grasping his wallet with his free hand. I’m not a big fan of Wayne and the NRA simply because of the fear mongering they promote but I don’t see them ever trying to reach out to the ‘minority’ communities either because they don’t know how to, don’t want to, or both.

I am torn by this issue. I met Rick, and he is a great guy. We will probably be friends as we get to know each other, but I feel strongly that he ought to be my friend, not my black friend.

In the same way, I am not sure I like the idea of reaching out to a particular racial group for no other reason than that they are a member of that racial group. I want to reach out to someone because they have a need and I am able to help.

On the other hand, I have to deal with the world the way it is, not the way I wish it was.

And that is why we may not ever win, because when the left does the categories thing it is a perfect angelic good wonder thing. When anyone on the right or “lefties who like guns” goes for categories in a “good way” it is hell of bad juju. God forbid the pro-rights person tries to be blind to the categories like all should strive towards, then they can’t get anywhere because treating all people just like people instead of having a different behavior set depending on the colors of those within ten feet of you is just weird.

Does it help if you’re blind to all categories to the point that your main advocacy group is composed of almost exclusively one category? Maybe at that point it would be good to notice categories to some degree?

Maybe on some deep philosophical level skin color doesn’t matter, but for a really long time in the real world it did matter, and people’s real world lives were affected by it and the impacts of that continue to be felt today.

Generally speaking, our side of the gun rights debate is the one used to living in the real world, so let’s extend the practice and try to understand the reasons why the foremost advocacy group for gun rights doesn’t appeal to large, identifiable populations of gun owners or potential gun owners.

The NRA can’t flip a switch and magically fix whatever issues they might identify, but they can work on them over time. Gradually, more and more people in those communities will realize that the Second Amendment provides the best protection for themselves and their families, and they’ll join in to preserve and strengthen it.

But just wishing reality was different, and these things didn’t matter, isn’t going to make it happen.

A majority, certainly a sizable chunk, of conservatives/Republicans don’t own guns. It’s not required for membership in the conservative club. By the same token, more than a third of Democrats own guns and more than 1 in 5 liberals own guns (I’m one of those). Talking in the language of absolutes, and politicizing the gun ownership issue, only hurts the cause of gun owners. The gun grabbers are authoritarians. They’re also the ones supporting “Stop & Frisk”, and supporting NSA spying by the surveillance state. Their goal is control, not just of guns but of people. When you fall into the trap of thinking all liberals, all “demoncraps”, are in opposition to gun ownership, you’re telling those 35% of Democrats and 22% of liberals that are proud gunowners that they can go fuck themselves, and you don’t want them as allies in the fight for everyone’s rights.

What I said stands as a reality of the mainstream media in the US today, whether or not some left leaning individuals believe in the 2A. The left leaning media regularly uses generalized invective to demonize gun owners, while any generalization from the right, or anyone the media pretends is on the right on anything is met with swift retribution.

And for the record I hold Rethuglican politicians in as low regard as Demtard politicians. The one party system should be shattered, it is toxic to freedom of all kinds. Supporters of both should be ashamed of themselves. If every idiot who told me I’m just helping the bad guys by not picking one of the two bad guys stopped picking one of the bad guys, the bad guys would lose!

It’s not important to forget that we have different skin colors; in fact, it’s downright foolish, like trying to forget that we all have different eye or hair colors. It’s only important to remember that different skin colors don’t mean sh!t.

Very stupid. 95% of founding fathers owned slaves. Jefferson had 200; Washington had 300, etc.
Most Presidents up to Lincoln owned slaves. Genocide and slavery started with Columbus: was he a Republican or Democrat? You idiot!

You are ignorant of how parties formed and how, when the Civil Rights Act ;passed, the racist base switched to the Republicans where they now dwell. Racism and genocidal policies dominated US for hundreds of years and actually continues, only today it is the Republicans who court the racists and the Democrats who lead the battle to protect and expand civil rights.

Racism won’t go away because you stick your head in the sand.
To end racism, we have to recognize it, call it out, expose it.
Much racism is institutional (real estate/loans/educational, etc) and has be dealt with in terms of laws and policies.

Individual racism, which is in denial, when called out reacts by accusing the accuser of racism. That is sort of what ;your comment does.

Steven Colbert does a brilliant impersonation of a person “who doesn’t see color.” with satirical genius.

I’m one of those Old Fat White Guys. When I brought my wife of Asian background to the Charlotte annual meeting I left with the same impression as Rick. We were “unique”. Even though Wayne’s hard working assistant Milly is Filipino, even though some of the top shooters in the action game are Asian, it is a weird feeling to be in a sea of OFWGs walking around and attending meetings.

When we made the drive back home, I wrote the NRA leadership. I pointed out the exact same issue. I told them that it was down right embarrassing to be amongst 60 or 70 thousand folks and not see any reasonable number of non-whites. What the heck kind of organization do we have I asked? I mean Charlotte is 50% non-white! That’s 1/2 MILLION people just in Charlotte. I received no reply at all. It’s a shame.

Gee, I didn’t say either. Gun folks tend to be generous and open. BUT, as I said it was GLARINGLY obvious that something “excluding” was at work. I don’t understand how the NRA would be to blame if I were treated badly? I believe in individual responsibly. It would have been some person or persons. How could I blame 4 million people? Or all the leadership?

As for my feelings, sorry if I am not the most gregarious of people. If I showed up at the local Black Panther Party monthly meeting, I am sure I would have “felt” as “unique”. Please don’t try to read into what I say something I didn’t.

I’ve never been to a NRA convention, but I assume it’s open to everyone. Unless the NRA convention people or attendees are overtly attempting to dissuade any certain demographics from feeling welcome or making them feel uncomfortable, it’s the choice of each person based on their interests if they attend or not. Of those of you who attended, would you feel less comfortable based on the number of Irish, Hungarians, Eskimos, Blacks, Whites, Yellows, Martians, Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Tinkers, Tailors, Scissor Grinders, Rag Pickers, Assemblymen, etc. milling around the floor?

I took my NRA pistol course at a range in a heavily minority area. The instructor was an old skinny white guy who used to teach high school in a black area of that town, so he was clearly comfortable around minorities. He definitely preached the doctrine of self-defense, and that self-defense is most useful to those who live and/or work in rougher areas. That is a color-blind message that should appeal to minorities who live in those areas.

i wouldn’t accuse them of racism, institutional or otherwise, but i do think that alot of their target audience is racist to a greater degree than the average public. that said, the last two times i was at the NRA headquarters there were more black people present than the average for fairfax county.

I may be # 13 since I was there at the convention and didn’t meet Rick, despite us being FB friends.

I don’t mind the country music, even if it is not my cup of tea, as it is what it is – people listening to music. I think the NRA needs to do more for outreach and maybe offer courses at the convention that appeal less to the hunter and the collector and more towards self-defense. They also need to stop using the “code” words that permeate our conversations. I am Black. I get it. I also like guns. I also was one of the better dressed guys there. and the rightful answer is: so what. I was just another gun guy. I met up with John Richardson from the Only Guns and Money blog and he introduced me to his wife and sister in law. We talked for 30 minutes and all was well with the world. Frankly, I think if more people focused on getting past the initial uncomfortableness, they would see that deep down, most people have more in common than they know or think.

There is a very logical reason why that organization is monochromatic:White gun owners can freely display their gun owning status no matter where they live. A black gun owner with an NRA sticker may as well be painting a target on his back.

Culturally,black people are our own worst enemy. We can debate the reasons why till the cows come home, but the bottom line is that hoplophobia is a cultural condition in urban Black America. A gun isn’t considered a tool or device of enjoyment, so much as a prima facie symbol for criminal activity. More than once ive heard an elder at my old Baptist church state that dying by the hand of a gun toting thug is a morally superior position to defending yourself. These people genuinely believe that guns are tools of oppresion;MLK Jr. and Malcolm X both were shot dead , and gangbangers and cops routinely shoot each other with guns, so thus its the firearm that is the cause of evil.

The cultural disposition is pretty awful:revealing my possession of a concealed weapons permit to my extended family was an experience akin to being a teenager telling Mom and Dad he knocked up his prom date. Cue awkward silence, followed by “I just don’t understand why you need a gun.” To this day its become the proverbial elephant in the room issue in the family, me and my paranoid need to carry a pistol out in the boonies of flyover country like a primitive gunslinger. I believe there are a LOT more gun owners of color than any of us know-and many of them support the 2nd Amendment-but due to cultural and family issues, they can’t exactly come out of the closet on openly supporting the NRA or the RKBA.

I have a long-time friend, who happens to be black- over the years, we’ve discussed the many times he’s been stopped for “DWB” (Driving while Black)- even now, as a 55 yr old man (with 2 degrees, a son in college, and a distinguished appearance) it still happens. When we discussed, a few years back, his acquisition of a pistol, part of that discussion were the reactions of his family and black friends. A bigger part of the discussion were the difficulties he might face if at some point he had to deal with law enforcement “AWB” (Armed while Black)- there IS a difference, there ARE legitimate fears for minorities most “OWGs” don’t understand. I’d welcome the NRA putting forth an effort to reach out.

Ive been stopped by Law Enforcement while armed. Its never been a problem.Ive never been treated any less than respectful by law enforcement on any of my encounters with them. While being black may lend to a greater chance of being profiled for a traffic stop, what happens next is completely in the hands of the person being pulled over.I always remember that whatever my disagreements are with the officer or the citation, the side of the road is not the place to discuss it. That’s why we have court, and yes, ive been stopped for bogus traffic laws before. Instead of getting indignant and quoting Jesse Jackson to the LEO , I signed for a court date on the ticket and prepared to deal with the real problem at the source:the local District Attorney.

As far as being “profiled” for having a gun, hoplophobic police and government agencies have shown remarkable equality in violating the rights of anyone carrying a gun they feel shouldn’t be. Men, women, white, black, latino, its not even a relevant factor. If the cop who pulls you over is a card carrying member of the Brady Campaign it wont matter if you’re Kermit the Frog.They won’t see “armed black guy”….”armed white guy”….they see “an ordinary serf with a GLOCK!”. Again, such issues are best resolved in the courtroom ..not on the side of the road quoting Malcolm X.

The KKK started out as a gun control organization, banding together to confiscate the guns of the newly freed blacks, especially the guns that black soldiers brought back with them from the Civil War.

The Mulford Act was a response to the Black Panthers openly carrying loaded weapons as they “policed the police”.

A lot of gun control measures, from safe storage laws to permitting, and training requirements, make legal gun ownership prohibitively expensive to anyone not at least middle class. For a lot of people, this is by design, as it keeps the “wrong people” from owning guns. That’s what DC’s current system is about.

CarlosT, historic discrimination does not explain why black and Jews especially are so unarmed now — not then, but now — when the laws are turning in their favor. I can’t think of two groups who need guns more and yet are so anti-gun. And don’t even talk about women!

Inertia applies to everything. There was active pressure from both the left and the right to stamp out gun culture in both those groups for generations, and a little legislative change is supposed to overcome that?

In both those those groups, a lot of negative associations, misinformation, and myths have built up around guns. To overcome that is going to take a lot of effort in building trust and credibility. Only after that can you start to chip away at the barriers that have been erected over the years. Just saying “hey, look, it’s easier to get a gun than ever!” isn’t going to cut it.

That’s why it would be great if the NRA would make the effort to reach out to those groups that haven’t had that traditional gun culture. For example, at the moment, there’s a lot of empty space in inner cities. Find a big empty building, like a vacant grocery store, gut it, build a range. Hire some local people to help run it and teach them all about guns, the NRA, gun rights, the Second Amendment, and how it preserves all our freedoms. Will there be protests? Maybe. Probably. But it will get people who need jobs some jobs, it will get people who might now have interacted directly with NRA people working side by side with them, and hopefully you’ll get some neighborhood people through the door renting a gun or two, satisfying their curiosity. Some of them will discover that hey, this shooting this is fun. They’ll ask around and find out, that the range has some NRA classes available and the basic one is really cheap. And before they know it, they’re hooked. Let that process repeat itself over time, and a gun culture will slowly build in that neighborhood. As a bonus, the neighborhood will probably become safer, too.

Carlos, you are exactly right. The failure of the gun owning community is that it doesn’t really see the 2nd Amendment as a universal right. Concealed Carry laws are completely designed to control the number of people who can afford to carry a weapon and for the most part those people are OFWG’s of which I am one. The NRA needs to reach out to women, Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Gays, etc. not because it needs their numbers but because it is the right thing to do. We all need to do it because it will save lives in the long run.

People in states with low gun ownership, according to a recent Harvard review of the gun research based on FBI data, have had, in the past decade, 40% fewer gun murders (and fewer suicides as well) than in the states with the highest level of gun ownership.

Why don’t more people in these low gun/low gun homicide states have more guns? They don’t need them. The Harvard School of Public Health published a study showing that homes with guns have a 270% higher likelihood of a gun death than homes without.

Where guns are relatively rare, you don’t need one. That suggests a solution.

Not really being part of the inner city urban scene; ( although I have worked and had some friends in such locations ); it seems that the urban scene is pretty much into the Brady Bunch ( I actually was sort of into Marsha ) regardless of color.
Having two daughters who are sort of into guns, the NRA really needs to work on the women in society.

Im 37 black middle class, and I live in Detroit . If the NRA targeted my area they would make millions of dollars more in recruitment. Not targeting urban areas is a sad lost opertunity for both sides.

Guns have a negative image in the inner city for an obvious reason. Those who have them (often) are either cops or criminals. With that stated let me get even more controversial. American blacks do not need to be marketed to, they need to be inspired and challenged to do; ask not what good [fill in the blank] can do for you ask what good you can do for [fill in the blank].

If I were to market to a demographic – I would target young, second generation, male Asiatics and Hispanics.

The NRA is wasting time “reaching out” to blacks. Better to make inroads with market-dominant minorities (MDMs). East Asians, Indians, Mormons, Europeans, etc. have the collective purchasing power and structural advantages to truly benefit the NRA.

We’re not talking about attracting “brothers” to the NRA. We’re talking about attracting black folks, who like white counterparts, take care of their families, go to work every day, keep their neighborhoods clean, and pay their taxes. They love their kids, and would defend their families and friends to the death. I no more want “brothers” around than I want trailer park, white trash, slob hunter types. I WOULD want similarly middle class black people to be a major force at any NRA convention or shooting match. Just think how much fun it would be for a bunch of balding black guys to outshoot the whites competing there.

BTW, my nearest outdoor range is in redneck country, with a healthy redneck clientele, and there are still plenty of young professional black guys there with ARs on a regular basis. So the culture gaps can be bridged.

Is this article actually claiming that minorities are not capable of understanding the arguments that the NRA makes on behalf of citizen’s rights without a significant marketing/outreach campaign specifically targeting “their people”? I’m sorry, but that doesn’t sound very color-blind to me.

If you reject an organization not on merit, philosophy, argument, or some other substantive measure, but simply because of the color of the majority of their membership, what is that? “I agree with them, but I’m not joining [organization] because they are almost all [ethnicity/nationality/race].” Sorry, I’m not buying it.

A large number of gun-owning blacks live in areas where it’s patently illegal to own, carry and possess guns so they are not inclined to join the NRA or any other gun organization. They exercise their 2a rights clandestinely, and breaking through to them would be a major accomplishment. If the NRA can get blacks who largely have supported gun banning politicians for decades to re-evaluate what that support for candidates opposed to their self defense really means you could see yet another fundamental shift in the gun debate.

1st I think the title to the column is wrong. The NRA is perfectly willing to accept people of any race.
2nd it may be more difficult than you think to work with black churches etc. because the NRA may not be welcome.
3rd on advertising. It is expensive. Even if a magazine for black people will allow an ad from the NRA will it be effective in recruiting new members? My guess is you won’t see a lot of gun ads in Cosmopolitan as too small a percentage of Cosmo readers want to buy guns.

Having grown up in suburbia around Houston and not being exposed to guns until I got married and was in college I had little experience around the shooting range. Being a “white hispanic” I didn’t get much exposure to minorities with guns (aside from my relatives) unless it was about a “tragic” shooting on the news.

When I was in college in Kansas I would drive across to the river to Missouri since they had some pretty decent public shooting areas. After plinking away 2-hours of .22lr ammunition some folks pulled up in the trucks (not uncommon in rural Missouri). I was expecting the typical rural Missori fare (draw your own conclusions). My brain had a disconnect when a couple of black cowboys (hats, boots, Wranglers, and all) hopped out of the truck and went to sight their .30-30s and talk about deer season.

In my sheltered existence it had never occured to me that there was such a thing, but thinking it over as I finished my brick of .22lr, I thought, “Why the heck not. These guys are pretty awesome.” I got the chance to say hello and comment on how venerable the .30-30 was, good gun talk all around. Are these guys candidates for honorary inductees to the OFWG club? Yeah, maybe, but I think that the bigger issue is that the NRA, OFWGs, and FUDs in general need to understand and recognize that gun rights are for everyone not just the sterotypes they feel comfortable catering to.

I don’t know what the point is. I went to a “liberal” Kansas college. If I was stuck in the OFWG shooting rut then certianly so are the OFWGs, FUDs, and I bet even some of those “liberal colleagues”. It takes all kinds and all kinds are out there.

the current situation between African Americans & the NRA cuts both ways: both parties can (& should) do more to increase participation of our people into this & other organizations (i.e. Second Amendment Foundation, Georgia Carry, Virginia Citizen’s Defense League, Black Gun Owners.org, Buffalo Soldiers Gun Club, etc…). 1 other point that i don’t think was made (if i overlooked this, my apologies) is the political dynamic. from what i’ve seen, many Conservatives/Republicans attend many of these conventions & contribute to the NRA publications (e.g. American Rifleman, NRA-ILA newsletter). personally, i regard both parties & politics w/distain . imho, they (Dems/Reps) are 2 sides of the same coin. my focus as a member of the NRA & other 2nd Amendment advocacy groups is law abiding citizens protecting their families, communities, & themseves. self defense trumps politics/race/religion, imo!

If the white club is racist, it is not racist to create a club for those excluded, such as blacks.

Organization by the masters is not the same as organization by the slaves, or oppressors/oppressed.

The ruling class organizes to extend its domination; the ruled class organizes to challenge the domination, to liberate from domination. Domination/liberation: it is clear one is racist and one seeks to challenge the ruling racism.

2 those who want to exclude certain “brothers” as “undesireables” from NRA or any other advocacy groups, i say this: GET OVER YOURSELVES! criminals or any others who seek to destroy people don’t give a damn about your income/education/social standing/religion or any other trivial mess! get it through your thick heads that good & evil are equal-opportunity conditions. either get on board w/positive actions that actually benefit ALL PEOPLE or get out of the way!

The last NRA Convention in St. Louis, I took my then girlfriend and later wife (now ex-wife) to the annual meeting. She, of course, was African-American. While nobody there was waiting to kiss her ass or offer her a special greeting or entrance prize just because she was black, everyone treated her very nicely.

Folks are friendly and then some at the NRA convention, especially to the ladies. My then girlfriend was warmly welcomed by all and we had a great time. Sounds like Rick has a little ‘angry black man’ in him.

I’m sorry there weren’t more black folks at the annual meeting. And frankly, I’d love to see more Hispanics, Asians and, especially, women. But it is what it is.

If some black folks want to imagine that they won’t be welcome, well I suppose that’s their own made-up prejudices getting in the way of an enjoyable weekend.

Mr. Ector’s comments really hit home with me. I am a black, card carrying member of the NRA. After reading his fine article I think I would now like to attend an NRA gathering. I have looked into it and many of our nation’s gun laws were put into place to deny “freedmen” from owning guns. I thought long and hard about joining the NRA. The dilemma for me was that the organization, or its memebers, sometimes seemed to stray from the 2nd amendment, into other hot button political issues. Many of the politicians that back the NRA also seemed politically polar opposite of my beliefs. I was able after much soul searching, to be able to back the organization on the 2nd, and just ignore some of the politicos and pundits on the fringe that support gun rights, but don’t seem to support the rights of women, minorities, and the poor. There are liberal gun owners. The NRA would do well to embrace them.
As long as they believe in the 2nd, they too should be speaking at NRA functions.
It would go along way to bringing diversity to our organization. We also need to keep our eye on the prize, and not let those extremists stray form that message into other areas of politics when speaking for us.. A diverse NRA would really mean progress and help our cause.

I share your feelings about some of the politicians the NRA chooses to back as they sometimes have MUCH different views than mine on other important issues. I am not a one issue voter, so have to weigh the options on the total package when I vote. I am not black, but my wife is Asian, and my family get togethers tend to look like Rev. Jackson’s description of the rainbow coalition, with African Americans, Canadians, Asians, European immigrants, and most major religions represented. I’ve never attended an NRA convention, because I’ve never been able to afford the cost or the time over the years. But if I were to attend, I would feel more comfortable if I saw a crowd that closely resembled a cross section of America’s population.

Bontai,
I think we are on to something. I hope the NRA listens. Expand the base. Diversify the membership. Stick to the 2nd…….and stop bashing the POTUS. We are better than that. We need to praise our cause. We do not need to belittle our opponents ….especially if it is our commander and chief. God Bless the USA………all of us.

There are a variety of reasons why Bantus tend not to join NRA. First, they are among the most vociferous advocates of gun control, tending to blame “the gun”, especially when it comes to black on black crime. Then, they vote overwhelmingly for Democrats who are pro-gun control, and hostile to the Second Amendment. Then too, the NRA is strongly pro-law enforcement, which is anathema to many Bantus, especially in the big cities.

NRA has invited all gun-owners to join, and become involved. If responsible Bantu gun-owners choose not to join, then that’s their choice. NRA shouldn’t promulgate AA programs just to get minorities to join.

Luis- excellent points (although I have no idea what a bantus is).
The NRA advocates for 2nd Amendment rights- but let there be no mistake- what they really fight for is the American way of life: low taxes, the right to be left alone, small government, individual responsibility, the right to defend oneself (NOT the Clinton “right to feel safe”), respect for police and our military, that America IS better than the rest of the world! Bring in too many pro 2nd amendment liberals, and the whole thing goes down the drain. The NRA is strong because it has ONE VOICE. And I’m glad they call out the POTUS, as he happens to have many bad ideas.

I am Asian, and i look forward to attending NRA meetings. I guess the members at our meetings don’t see me as a minority. They have always treated me and my family with utmost respect and courtesy. Hmmm maybe its my southern accent coming out of a Asian that makes me happy to be around all those white racist people of the NRA. Seriously, the people i have met and been around at the NRA, seem genuine and judge others for their character, not their skin color. I have never played the minority card and never will. i don’t like it when i hear Asian-American, African-American, Mexican-American, ect… Geez why can’t we just be Americans without the hyphen. To those that let skin color be an excuse for not living life to the fullest, it’s your loss. We can’t change the past, we can’t change everyone’s deep seated feelings, but we can change the future and get to know each other as equals, if we would just stop making excuses for things not going our way.

Last time i checked anybody of any nationality that is able to write a check can join the NRA. The writer of this article must think the NRA must send out scouts, find people of a minority, convince them to join, fill out a subscription application and mail it in for them, hand deliver it and read it for them. Lets get off the race card here. If Latino’s and blacks want to join there is no one stopping them.Everyone wants the right to own a gun,and no one wants to fight for it. Man/woman up and join—–Women, blacks, Latinos.

But I know oh so many white people in the NRA that don’t want black people with guns because of the stereotypes about blacks. Its no accident that the NRA caters to white men.

I think what needs to be done is to make a group for black people and then ease the integration process for both groups.

Also, most blacks I know that own guns, don’t own guns for the enjoyment of owning one like all the NRA gun lovers I know. They just own for protection. They aren’t proud to own a gun, they feel more shamed for having to own one, as if they are betraying their own or something. I’m sure there are blacks that own for the love of owning one, but I think those types are far and few.

Check your history folks, the NRA was there for us Blacks folks way back when. They were the first to grant charters to Black chapters when Blacks could not carry weapons, and might I say we were not democrats back then. I’m a member and not ashamed of it. I love being able to own and carry my weapons.

As a Certified NRA Instructor within 2 hours of NYC and Philadelphia I am doing everything I can to bring people from inner cities to my shooting range and give them an introduction to firearms. I only charge $50 per group to cover my expenses.

I sent an email to NRA headquarters after the election advising them that they should focus more on firearms training now that the election is over with the goal of reaching inner cites. We have to reach out to those people too.

It is correct that some people will not trust our intentions. Some people can not be convinced by us. They can only be convinced by some of their more open minded friends who do take the trip out of the city to do some shooting.

We only need to reach 1 in 100 of inner city people. Shooting is fun. Those people will then spread the word.

I think rather than leave introducing people to proper firearms safety, and guns in general, to the NRA, we should focus on trying to introduce people we know/work with to firearms ourselves. If they show interest, no need to force it on them, but just offer, “Hey, I’m going to the range, and if youre interested, you can join me, to see what shooting is like”. I’ve done this a few times, and I think me and my S&W model 10 have done a lot to change perceptions of people I know who have never even touched a gun before. Just educating 1 person about firearms safety, and use can make a difference.

WHY ARE THE N.R.A. MEMBERS SCARED TO DEATH OF BLACK AND LATINO MINORITIES ? IF I OWN AN ASSAULT RIFLE WILL IT GIVE ME MORE COURAGE OR MAKE ME MORE PARANOID LIKE YOU ?? I HAVE NO PROBLEM OWNING FIRE ARMS,SO WHATS THE PROBLEM WITH WAITING 2 WEEKS TO PURCHASE A WEAPON ? ESPECIALLY AN ASSAULT ! CHARGE EVERY N.R.A. MEMBER WHO OWNS AN ASSAULT RIFLE AN EXTRA $ 1000 TO REGISTER THAT WEAPON. SEND FUNERAL EXPENSES OF THOSE INNOCENT CHILDREN TO THE N.R.A. ?

What kind of person wants to punish the innocent for the acts of the guilty? Would you support jailing safe drivers to punish them for the acts of violent felons? Perhaps you would like to jail honest people because criminals murdered someone?

Really, that is a shameful post and you should be shamed, and your position should be pointed out as abhorent.

Of course Republicans permit blacks. I understand that Fredrick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. were Republicans. Why would blacks not be Republicans? Blacks have suffered from from Democratic support of slavery, Democratic support of abortion, Democratic support of segregation, and Democratic support of teacher’s unions, Democratic denial or rights, education, and freedom to work, as well as other harmful government programs.

I am weary of reminding Republicans that while most blacks were Democrats from the time of FDR, because of the racist Dixicrats, many stayed with the Republicans, including the young King….until the whole think got reversed during the CR moment (I marched with Dr. King in Selma)…when King and others joined the Democrats. When the CR Act was passed, the Democrats gave up on the Dixicrats, who then joined the Republicans and have remained with them since.

It is sad the the Republican party gave us emancipation and the progressive movement but have since retreated to the dark corners of the far right and have let the progressives lead the civil rights movement and the progressive movement.

Republicans like candidate Goldwater and the late Ron Paul were against the Civil Rights Act, since they put property rights (which reflect existing power relations) above human rights, which are innate.

History has its ironies: one of the greatest is how the once civil libertarian progressive Republicans
are now controlled by people trying to strip civil rights, repeal parts of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, and have nothing but contempt for the progressive movement they led for many decades.

Very few minorities support the Republicans: Blacks vote 95% for Democrats, Jews, Latinos, and Asians vote 70%. The base of the Republicans are now the southern racist constituency which they took up when the Democrats threw them under the bus while passing the Civil Rights Act.

Actually, Dr. King was a radical, as he refused the call just to stick to civil rights but campaigned for a complete restructuring of the economy and an end to the Vietnam War. His followers were mostly black religious folks, white radicals and progressives, and reformers. He was, in action and word, a man of the progressive left, and that is why he left the Republicans early on since their leaders were opposing expanding civil rights, ending the war, and transforming the economy along egalitarian lines.
He was, in fact, a democratic socialist….I don’t think you will find many among the republicans.

Yeah dale … the only problem with your diatribe is … well, THE FACTS. but hey, why let THAT get in the way of the democrat propaganda. I am not going to even get into the weeds about that nonsense … I still think it is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING that black folks think republicans could have fought for civil rights for a century, constantly driving back the absolutely VULGAR assault on blacks by democrats, not the least of which was the creation of the KKK … and then SUDDENLY it was the DEMOCRATS that kicked out the racists and the republicans embraced them with open arms. REALLY?

Take a look at the VOTE on the civil rights legislation pal … Republican MAJORITY voted for it, demoncrap MAJORITY voted against it. And no, chumley, there was NO mass migration of demoncraps to republicans in the south UNTIL THE OLD RACISTS DIED … Reagan carried the south in the 1980s.

Take a long hard look at democrat controlled areas, pal … and look what they and their deranged programs have done to the black community. Now, GO AND READ WHAT THEY WROTE … people like Margaret Sanger, patron saint of Planned Parenthood (the demon’s altar). What has happened to the black family and community in general was EXACTLY AS PLANNED by your beloved democrats.

Hey … SORRY if we do not jump in with the devil and help black communities destroy themselves by following the insane policies of the demoncraps. That is what YOU call racism … refusing to join in the destruction of black families. Very sad.

My “diatribe” was historically accurate. Except for the Racists in the Democratic Party in the South (the Dixicrats,) Democrats voted for the Civil Rights Act. Since then, the racists have been courted and adopted by the southern Republicans. Most blacks became Democrats during the era of FDR.
Today, the Republican count on the racist whites in the south…..and have no appeal at all to blacks for the simple reason that they oppose their interests, whether in social safety net programs or voting rights.

The once proud Republican party was the party of civil liberties and progressive values until the 60’s when everything was reversed. Candidate Goldwater opposed the CR Act. Since its passage, the racist base has switched from the Dixicrats to the Republicans
I dare you to provide evidence of one false fact in this “diatribe.” This is history, and if you don’t understand it, your party will never appeal to minorities: blacks vote 95% for Democrats, but Asians, Latinos and Jews vote 70% for Democrats.

I am not a Democrat but an independent. I embrace facts and real history. Now its your turn to prove me wrong on my history of southern racism in the modern era.

Moving from a northern, liberal city to a southern city in a conservative state was a real eye opener.

I found that there’s far more openness, warmth and mixing between blacks and whites than I ever experienced up north.

Northern liberals tend to talk a good game about the need to improve race relations, but they’re really quite condescending toward blacks and seem to mostly want to keep them dependent on the state, and at arms length.

I think that the Black Americans should belong to the NRA. When I was in the military I fought along side of BLACK Americans, LATINO AMERICANS, AS Well as WHITES and others.In this most of use were BROTHERS & Sisters .WE need to bond together an stop letting these goverment Magets from keeping us the AMERICAN PEOPLE from UNITY in the case of our CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS given to us all.

Alfonzo Rachel of PJTV just did a great video about “Republicans reaching out to blacks”, along with another video with his band 20-lb Sledge on the “Black NRA” … the bottom line is that the demoncraps have made it absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for conservative organizations to make any inroads into the black community. Period.
Blacks voted 95% for Obama and the rest of the anti-2nd Amendment cretins … why would ANY reasonably sane individual presume that this would be a good place to expend precious resources?
Listen to this audio where the interviewer spreads his propaganda about the “power” of the NRA and how people should be targetted if the NRA supports them … yeah, THAT’S the guy they should be spending ALL their time on, right?
The NRA did not “outreach” to me in any special way … they simply advertise on the sites I go to (does your web browser work?), they provide materials for the various sanctioned training classes (there was no “race” checkmark on my registration), and put materials in the firearms products that I purchase (again, no “whites-only” signs at the Walmart, Cabellas or other places I shop).

I read a few paragraphs. My head started to hurt due to my eyes rolling back in my head. A common reaction I have when I read or hear mediocrity or idiocy.
The NRA has voluntary membership. If someone chooses not to join then they have that Right. Black people had no Rights for many years. The NRA fights for the preservation of the Second Amendment which protects us all whether one wants to admit that fact or not. It is that simple.
Those that oppose The Second Amendment, the NRA, private ownership of firearms should admit that a total ban is what they want and stop beating around the bush. It is a waste of your time to oppose The Second Amendment. You will not succeed and you should spend your time on something else such as house hunting in China.

One day I woke up and smelled the coffee. A whole lot of people were armed, and I wasn’t. White or Black (happened to be Black) this situation put me at a severe disadvantage. The next day I purchased a handgun. When I took it home, I put it on the table in it’s box. I realized that I had just accepted a big resonsibility. Then, I waited for the handgun to force me to feel certain ways and do certain things. I admit, that I did feel more secure knowing that it was there. Did it make me feel bigger, badder or stronger? No. I waited for it to cause me to have an accident with it or put dark thoughts in my head. It just sat there on the table doing nothing. So all that I learned about guns making people feel things and do things was not true (for me anyway). Maybe my father would have had a chance when those young guys (according to the police) stabbed him to death. Maybe everything I learned about fire arms and The NRA might not be true. I joined The NRA yesterday to find out for myself.

The National Rifle association supposedly opposed gun laws that restricted African-American gun ownership and in some instances offered support to Black Americans seeking to defend themselves with firearms. In 1958, retired Marine Robert Williams opened a chapter of the NAACP in Monroe, North Carolina. Monroe was also Klan country, and the KKK mounted several vicious assaults agains African-Americans in Monroe. In 1960, Williams applied for and was granted a charter to establish an NRA chapter in Monroe; the association also provided firearms training materials. Mr. Williams and other black NRA members in Monroe subsequently successfully defended themselves with firearms against an attack coordinated between the KKK and the local police.

This history prompted erstwhile civil rights icon Ann Coulter to opine that all blacks should be supporters of the NRA; Coulter also recounted the story of Martin Luther King, Jr being denied a concealed weapons permit. Coulter instructed us that, as with slavery, it was the Republican Party and the NRA that were on the side of black people, not the libs and Dems.
The National Rifle Association was first chartered in the state of New York on November 17, 1871 by Army and Navy Journal editor William Conant Church and General George Wood Wingate. Its first president was Civil War General Ambrose Burnside (UNION OFFICER) , who had worked as a Rhode Island gunsmith, and Wingate was the original secretary of the organization. Church succeeded Burnside as president in the following year. (Hmm, Correct me if I’m wrong BUT the Union soldiers were from the North not the south)
The original targets of the Ku Klux Klan were Republicans, both black and white, according to a new television program and book, which describe how the Democrats started the KKK and for decades harassed the GOP with lynchings and threats.
An estimated 3,446 blacks and 1,297 whites died at the end of KKK ropes from 1882 to 1964.
Further, the first grand wizard of the KKK was honored at the 1868 Democratic National Convention, no Democrats voted for the 14th Amendment to grant citizenship to former slaves and, to this day, the party website ignores those decades of racism, he said.
“Of all forms of violent intimidation, lynchings were by far the most effective,” Barton said in his book. “Republicans often led the efforts to pass federal anti-lynching laws and their platforms consistently called for a ban on lynching. Democrats successfully blocked those bills and their platforms never did condemn lynchings.”
“Although it is relatively unreported today, historical documents are unequivocal that the Klan was established by Democrats and that the Klan played a prominent role in the Democratic Party,” Barton writes in his book. “In fact, a 13-volume set of congressional investigations from 1872 conclusively and irrefutably documents that fact.
Further, three years later, Eisenhower signed the GOP’s 1960 Civil Rights Act after it survived a five-day, five-hour filibuster by 18 Senate Democrats, and in 1964, Democrat President Lyndon Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act after former Klansman Robert Byrd’s 14-hour filibuster, and the votes of 22 other Senate Democrats, including Tennessee’s Al Gore Sr., failed to scuttle the plan.
Even then, the opposition to rights for blacks was far from over. As recently as 1960, Mississippi Democratic Gov. Hugh White had requested Christian evangelist Billy Graham segregate his crusades, something Graham refused to do.
Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has said: “The first Republican I knew was my father, and he is still the Republican I most admire. He joined our party because the Democrats in Jim Crow Alabama of 1952 would not register him to vote. The Republicans did. My father has never forgotten that day, and neither have I.”
as for that BS that the Old Southern Democrats were “Conservative” Abraham Lincoln answered that nonsense by stating:
‘But you say you are conservative – eminently conservative – while we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried? We stick to, contend for, the identical old policy on the point in controversy which was adopted by “our fathers who framed the Government under which we live;” while you with one accord reject, and scout, and spit upon that old policy, and insist upon substituting something new. True, you disagree among yourselves as to what that substitute shall be. You are divided on new propositions and plans, but you are unanimous in rejecting and denouncing the old policy of the fathers. Some of you are for reviving the foreign slave trade; some for a Congressional Slave-Code for the Territories; some for Congress forbidding the Territories to prohibit Slavery within their limits; some for maintaining Slavery in the Territories through the judiciary…’
I posted a link to the entire speech by Lincoln below.
The Democrat Party is the Party of Liars! The way they KEEP trying to pathetically and Farcically Rewrite their history. And WORSE! The number of idiots who are actually STUPID enough to believe their feeble lies. RME

To blame the NRA for the low number of black members is misguided and an unfair accusation. It is very basic. The NRA is a Conservative organization and votes conservative ideas and concepts.The main one is Freedom to be armed. This is in contrast with the black community which by majority is democratic and votes a liberal agenda. Nothing racial about it,just the facts.

Never before have I seen such a bunch of blathering idiots gathered in one place.
Ignorant of the history of the KKK. Ignorant of the very early efforts of the NRA to empower and protect black folks, and ignorant about the natural human right of self-defense. You can thank decades of the FSA mentality for brainwashing their subjects that self-defense is wrong and evil—and that you should just trust your attacker to be merciful and not care whether or not that they leave living witnesses to serious felonies behind after they rob, rape, murder, and carjack.

So…the “author” of this third-grade essay on stupidity and perceived racism believes that because black people in more numbers don’t spend a fuckload of money to travel 1200 miles to the middle of the country for a convention is obviously is proof positive that the NRA is a racist organization and doesn’t care about black people. Hell, I don’t know any WHITE PEOPLE who can throw away a ton of money to attend a convention like that…does that make the NRA not only anti-white, but anti-poor/middle class?

The bottom line is that the NRA is about freedom, personal liberty, and the protection of our most important natural resource—our families/children. They recognize both the historical significance of the reason the founders of this country stipulated that free people should be armed and that use of such arms in defense of one’s family/household, one’s self, one’s state, and one’s nation is a necessary safeguard against tyranny and evil….and only the tyrannical and evil would seek to corrupt this natural right and restrict its usage. Rick Ector (the author of this sad, political hit-piece) should be forced to return to whatever po-dunk college that he graduated from and should be forced to pass an American History class as well as a Constitutional Law class with more than a D+ as penance for his abject stupidity. Such should be the wages of public displays ignorance and ill-researched essays such as this.

When I present the facts of racial crime to racists, they always have the same response: bullshit!
The facts are so different from the racist perceptions which the right and the gun lobby promote that those who are confronted with the facts cannot believe it. The source is the FBI website.

Percent of gun murders done by family and friends: 54%
Percent of gun murders done by gangs: 6% (mostly gang on gang violence)

Most murders are intraracial, with 84% of white homicide victims murdered by whites, and 93% of black victims murdered by blacks.

The other fact the racist gun owners cannot tolerate is that homes with guns have a 270% greater likelihood of gun death in the home than homes without.

The number of gun deaths in homes in the US (murder, accidents, and suicides) is about 15,000 while the number of justified homicides (such as shooting an armed home invader) is 250, or far less than 1%.

People who have grown up on NRA propaganda (more guns means more safety) cannot mentally handle the truth. That is why, despite the fact that fewer and fewer households have guns (down about 25% in the last generation), more and more guns are sold. The smaller and smaller percent of people who own guns own more and more.

With a declining percentage of households owning guns, the only recourse the merchants of death have is to promote such fear in those with guns that they absurdly think they will be safer with more guns. The other promotional lie is that the gubmint is coming for their guns so they better stock up now.

This explains why the US, among 35 advanced nations, has a gun murder rate 85-90% higher than the other 34 nations, 99% higher than those nations which are nearly gun free zones, such as Japan and the UK.

When racial fear overwhelms the evidence, the profits of the gun makers rises. The saddest reality is that the NRA opposes universal background checks, while 3/4 of its members (according to Republican Frank Luntz’s poll) support it.

Why anyone would belong to an organization that lies to them and then opposes programs they support, would have to be explained psychologically, as it makes no rational sense.

My “myths” are FBI data (which you can fact check) and a Harvard peer-reviewed study.

I can see why person who calls facts and research “myths” might be attracted to a propaganda website for the gun lobby. If you have children and guns in your home, you are guilty of child endangerment. Would you buy a family car that was proven to be nearly 3 times more likely to cause a fatality? That is the gamble you are taking by having guns in your home.

I recommend you learn the documented facts about gun violence by checking out Wikipedia/homicide, Nationmaster/crime, and gunpolicy.org, all of which collect and publish objective data on guns and gun violence.

Here is a fact from the New England Journal of Medicine:

:”According to the New England Journal of Medicine: a gun in the home is 43 times more likely to be used against a member of the household than against an intruder.”

One of the reasons you are so ignorant of gun facts is that the NRA has effectively led a ban on research by the government on gun violence. Yes, ignorance is bliss.

“If Congress will lift the National Rifle Association (NRA)-funded ban on federal funding for gun research, there’s a clear research agenda for answering life-and-death questions about gun violence in the United States, according to a cross-ideological Institute of Medicine (IOM) panel.”

How you can you trust an organization that takes money from the gun makers and uses it to buy influence to prohibit the US from doing research on gun violence? How can you trust an organization that opposes basic gun laws, like universal background checks, tho 3/4 of its members support such a law?

You have been lied to by those whose goal is the profits from creating fear, based on misperceptions, and then told the way to appease the fear is to buy more guns, which all evidence proves endanger your household and your family much more than it protects it. These are not myths: these are the conclusions of peer-reviewed academic studies independent of both the state and the gun lobby. You can call the results of world class research “myths” if that assuages the cognitive dissonance but the fact is that owning a gun is a risk factor for you and your family of a gun accident or death.

I will not repond to any reply you make that is not based on solid peer-reviewed studies. What you get from the NRA is commercial propaganda, advertisement, inducements (based on lies and myths) to buy more guns.

And the more guns you have, the more dangerous your household. That is not a myth. That is a conclusion based on the facts.

I’m a black guy, and I’m in the NRA. WTF, yes you’ve just seen a black unicorn! LMAO! The NRA has the same problem the Republican Party has. Please don’t be offended, but it’s primarily a “good ole boy’s club” for older conservative white men. Although Conservative’s come in many colors, ethnicities, races, etc, the NRA like the GOP haven’t done too much to include them. Usually when I go to a NRA event, I’m the only non-white guy there, literally, out of hundreds of people. They need to diversify the NRA community and the GOP to include ALL conservatives, regardless of race, ethnicity, color, gender, etc. The fact is, in a decade or 2, the US demographics will change, whites will be the minority one day. Might as well get ahead of the curve and embrace the melting pot. It’s like trying to make good gumbo with only 1 ingredient! LOL. Sure, the NRA will lose maybe 500,000 hardcore supporters who strongly oppose desegragation and still having a Naz/KKK mentality where whites with blonde hair and blues are the superior race, but the NRA will gain a couple million new members of all colors. I have a plan how to do it. To bad the NRA leadership hasn’t contacted me yet. LOL.

They also need to then diversify the NRA leadership to reflect the NEW diverse group of NRA members.

What black guy wants to go to party where there are many known KKK members, and I will be the only minority?
That’s like asking what white guy wants to an all black party in Oakland where there are known members of the Black Panther Party? LOL